


Bright Blue Eyes

by craftyAnatomist



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Awkwardness, Bisexual Character, F/F, Lesbian Character, Mass Effect 2, Miscommunication, Romance, Shyness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-10
Updated: 2015-10-10
Packaged: 2018-04-25 18:51:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4972357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/craftyAnatomist/pseuds/craftyAnatomist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For a long time now, Tali has been slowly falling in love with Liara. The only problem is - well, there are a lot of problems. Quarian health concerns, a ship full of interfering crewmates, and fear of rejection are only the beginning...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bright Blue Eyes

“Would you mind telling us why we’re here?” Tali asked, her arms crossed, even behind her mask managing to look just as impatient as everyone else in the room other than Shepard. Liara seemed especially reluctant to be present, having had to be almost literally dragged away from her office on Ilium.

It wasn’t that everyone was in a huge hurry to get back to work, but it was hard for them not to assume that any unexpected gathering of the team - particularly one included old squad members - was going to involve new and less-than-pleasant information about Reapers. Thankfully, the smile that spread across the commander’s face suggested otherwise.

“There’s a charity on Ilium that hosts an annual awards ceremony celebrating people who have significantly contributed to society during their lives. That planet being what it is, most years all the awards go to philanthropist billionaires, but this year they’ve chosen me,” she said, and looked sheepish as a small ripple of applause passed through the room.

“I think it’s mainly just because having someone who’s been dead for two years up on your stage makes a good publicity stunt. Anyway, whatever their reasons, they gave me enough tickets for all of us - and considering what we’ve been going through recently, I think we all deserve to dress up nice and feel good about ourselves for a night.”

There was some grumbling from one end of the table, and Shepard turned to Grunt and Jack. She rolled her eyes. “There’s also going to be free food and champagne, apparently.” The grumbling subsided, slowly.

“The main reason I wanted to tell you guys about it a few weeks in advance is so that you can let me know if any of you want to bring dates so I can get extra tickets. I know we don’t have much time for romance at the moment,” Shepard said, staring at the wall as if to avoid making any accidental eye contact with anyone, “but I figured I should leave you the option, anyway. Does anyone think they’ll need a second ticket?”

Tali surreptitiously glanced at Liara, and was relieved to see her shaking her head. She knew that not having a date to bring didn’t necessarily mean a lack of romantic involvement with anyone, but Tali had no other evidence to go on. Unfortunately, any chat she had had with her over the past few weeks seemed to only ever get personal when the topic turned to either family or imminent death, subjects which didn’t really lend themselves to questions about anyone’s love life.

It was hard for Tali to pin down when she had started having feelings for Liara. She had warmed to her immediately when they first met, but only as a friend; or at least that was what she had convinced herself at the time. Seeing the asari’s face light up when she talked about the Protheans had given Tali the overwhelming feeling of having found a kindred spirit. Someone who held the same passion for their work that she held for hers. She wasn’t the only one of Tali’s coworkers to be passionate - that seemed to be a pretty common trait amongst the people Shepard chose to surround herself with - but there was something very earnest about her enthusiasm that made her instantly endearing.

The change from platonic warmth to something else had been gradual, which was why Tali found it such as challenge to define. Of course, a pretty definite turning point had come when one day Tali found herself idly wondering if Liara had ever gone through the common asari phase of becoming a nightclub dancer, and enjoyed the image more than she had expected…

“Ok, so one extra ticket for Garrus, and I’ll take the silence from everyone else as a no?” Shepard said, and Tali startled a little, not having realised that she had zoned out. She was relieved that nobody in the room was looking at her. “Great, let me know in the next few days if you change your minds. In the meantime, we all have work to be doing, so I won’t keep you here.”

As the room emptied, Tali moved past other people so she was walking next to Liara.

“So, are you heading back to Ilium straight away, or…?” she asked, a small part of her mind irrationally worried that her desire to ask Liara to be her date for the ceremony was painfully obvious just from the way she had asked the question.

“Not just yet. Even in this last half an hour here on the Normandy I’ve felt more relaxed than at any point over the past few months - I’d like to prolong that for at least another few hours. It’s been nice to see everyone again,” she said, smiling. The smile, along with the knowledge that there was a decent window of time for her to attempt to ask Liara out, gave Tali a sudden wave of confidence - which lasted all of ten seconds before Liara walked away and reality sunk in.

A few hours hardly seemed like enough time to build up the courage to ask a friend out on a date and risk ruining the friendship. To be honest, as she considered worst-case scenarios, Tali realised that even if Liara said yes, there were still so many other worries. If at the end of the night the date ended up in Liara’s apartment, if she wanted to ( _what was the asari thing again? “embrace eternity”_ ), the risks associated with Tali’s immune system would kill the mood for both of them. Even with a friendship as close as theirs, she wasn’t sure that they could get through that kind of awkwardness.

And that wasn’t even the only fear that Tali had about the two of them sleeping together - it was nerve-wracking enough to imagine the uncomfortable talk about suit safety without also having to imagine the talk about what exactly is _underneath_ the suit. Tali didn’t expect an unkind response from Liara, but at the same time… she had no idea what kind of response she should expect.

Tali walked past the CIC, trying to walk quickly enough past Shepard and Chambers so that she could get to the elevator without being engaged in conversation. It occurred to her just slightly too late that that might actually draw _more_ attention to her.

“You ok Tali?”

She turned around to see Shepard, an expression on her face that the crew had become familiar with enough to talk about it behind her back. It was the “personal questions” face. Something about it, the visible good intentions shining out through the commander’s eyes, meant that within a few minutes you’d find yourself breaking down and admitting there was something weighing on your mind. It was impressive. And in this case, inconvenient.

“I’d rather not talk about it,” Tali said, but Shepard seemed undeterred.

“Are you sure? I have some time to talk, if you’d like.”

Tali sighed. Maybe talking to Shepard _would_ actually help. After all, Shepard had been through her own workplace romance with Garrus, even if that relationship had ended up being somewhat short-lived. At very least, she could give her advice on what to avoid doing. Not that the situation with Liara was really a workplace issue any more, now that she was busy information brokering; Tali just had a feeling they would be working together again in the future. It had been her experience that nobody could stay away from the Normandy for very long.

If they were going to have this conversation, Tali could think of at least a few dozen places on the ship that would be more comfortable than the middle of the command deck. Especially with Chambers about two metres away, visibly eavesdropping (though presumably under the pretense of monitoring Tali’s mental wellbeing).

“Ok. But can we speak somewhere more private?”

\----------

It was odd, being in Shepard’s cabin. It was almost too nice, in the way that made Tali feel like a child who couldn’t touch anything for fear of breaking it. And the fish! Even after all the time she had spent away from the flotilla, there were still little things that boggled her mind, and pets were one of them. Unless you were raising them for food, they were just a waste of resources on a ship where everyone was struggling to survive.

“So, what’s up?” Shepard said calmly, pulling Tali out of her trance-like staring at the fishtank. She gestured towards the seat next to her.

“Umm. Well,” Tali murmured, feeling very under pressure as she sat down. Yet another moment where she was grateful that nobody could scrutinise her facial expression. “I kind of… have a crush on someone.”

“Oh?” Shepard responded, looking curious.

“And… it’s someone that I know from work.” Up until around halfway through the sentence, she had been debating whether to name names. She was happy with the decision; if Shepard’s advice ended up being “don’t do it”, Tali would at least feel safe in the knowledge that the conversation would never find its way back to Liara.

“Does that mean it’s someone I know?” Shepard said, and Tali could see her trying not to smile. For all her smooth, confident diplomacy with strangers, the commander had a hint of an immature side when it came to people she was close to. Tali supposed it was probably hard to be serious about absolutely everything without it taking a toll on you - still, this was one situation where she would prefer to be taken seriously.

“Yes,” Tali snapped, and crossed her arms. She felt guilty as soon as she saw Shepard’s look of surprise. “Sorry Shepard. I’d just rather not tell you who it is just yet. I would still appreciate your advice, though. Do you think it’s it a bad idea to date someone that you’re probably going to have to go on missions with? After what happened with you and Garrus?”

Shepard exhaled slowly, evidently giving a lot of thought to her answer. “This is probably going to be hard to hear...” She moved closer, putting her hand on Tali’s arm reassuringly. Tali prepared herself for bad news, there was no way she could have prepared herself for what she actually heard.

\----------

_Well that was just the most embarrassing thing to ever happen to me._

Tali sat at the bottom of the stairs in the engineering deck, grateful that Jack was away on whatever the current assignment was. Jack’s quarters seemed to be about the only place in the ship that you could guarantee yourself any kind of privacy, even if you did have to be very careful not to disturb any of her belongings.

She closed her eyes and tried to calm herself down, almost successfully. Another wave of feeling upset came over her as she realised that her chance to ask Liara out had definitely passed her by. She swore under her breath.

“Tali?”

Tali turned and saw that she wasn’t alone in the room. Peering up from behind a pile of boxes was a face that even in the shadows was unmistakably blue, and unmistakably gorgeous.

“Are you… _hiding_ down here?” Tali asked, though it occurred to her that that might have been a silly question to ask a person currently crouching in the corner of a dimly-lit room.

“Long story,” Liara said sheepishly, getting up from behind the boxes and sitting on top of one of them. “I needed to ask Mordin about… something. Let’s just say I received more medical advice than I had been looking for. If I hadn’t hidden down here he’d still be talking to me! If I ever hear him say the word ‘intercourse’ again in my life, it’ll be too soon.” She laughed, and Tali couldn’t help laughing with her.

“At least you didn’t accidentally ask _Shepard_ out on a _date_ ,” Tali said, and Liara looked at her wide-eyed, still partly bent over with laughter.

“Ok, I think you win. But _how_?”

“I was trying to confide in her about a crush, and she thought I was talking about her, and she launched into this long apology about how she just doesn’t see me that way, and by the time I could get a word in it was too late for either of us to leave the room with any dignity,” she said, glad as always that her mask hid how much she blushed.

Slowly, both women’s laughter faded out, and they were left looking at each other in almost silence. The loudest noise Tali could hear was her own breathing.

“In the future, if you ever want advice…” Liara said, as she walked over to Tali and sat down next to her. “I know I can be difficult to reach at the moment, but you can always come to me for help if you need it. Not that I would be much of an expert on romance.” Once she finished speaking, she started biting one of her nails, a habit Tali had noticed before and found surprisingly cute.

Hesitantly, Tali leant sideways and rested her head on Liara’s shoulder. She waited for Liara to say anything, but the room stayed quiet. She felt Liara’s arm wrap around her, and wished she had some way of knowing without asking if this was just friendly affection. She felt the warmth of Liara’s body where it touched hers, her heartbeat, the small movements she made (probably without even noticing) and thought - _well, it’s not like this day could get any worse._

“It was you. My story before. About the crush,” she whispered without moving from where she was. She was glad that she only had to look at an arm rather to a pair of bright blue eyes.

“I thought it might be,” came the response, just as quiet, just as shy as what Tali had said. “Goddess, we must be the two most awkward people on this ship.”

“Do you mean...?” Tali said, looking up at Liara, hoping that she hadn’t misunderstood. Liara nodded at her. “So the medical advice Mordin gave you…”

“...included a twenty-page booklet on enviro-suit safety,” Liara said, and started laughing again like she had earlier.

Silence fell again, but this time it was a comfortable silence. Liara put another arm around Tali, enclosing her in a tight hug, and Tali snuggled up close to her.

“Liara?”

“Yes?”

“Want to be my date for the awards ceremony?”


End file.
